


James & Me: Accident

by mcepl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Marriage Proposal, Muggle/Wizard Relations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:40:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23267857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcepl/pseuds/mcepl
Summary: Visit to show her boyfriend to parents ends up with revolution which changes lives for both families. Very much Work in Progress (all comments are welcome).
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, James Sirius Potter/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	1. Return to Drakeshaugh

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Northumbrian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Northumbrian/gifts).
  * Inspired by [James and Me](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8402590) by [Northumbrian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Northumbrian/pseuds/Northumbrian). 



Our bike flew over the River Coquet, passed Wood Hall Farm on our way back to the Harbottle and just behind the hamlet, the road went down the hill through sparse forest. It was already dark, and James slowed down a little and perhaps that was what saved us. A large ball of blue light flew from behind one tree and hit the machine. When it touched the frame of it, a huge explosion tore the bike in two pieces, and we both were thrown to the ground. My helmet saved my head, but unfortunately when falling my hand got underneath me and I heard a loud crack touching the ground. Moreover, while flying towards the side of the road, I hit some piece of metal with my other hand, which went right through my leather biking jacket and made a large slash in my arm.

Strong pain was all over me and I found myself lying on the ground, crying. All my strength of will suddenly left me and I remember the rest of that part of the evening just in a haze, most of what I know about what happened is what later James told me. He pulled out his wand and started to fire curses to the dark trees around us. Nobody replied for a moment, so he decided that the best thing is to transport me to safety. He grabbed me to his arms and just seconds later I felt something shocking even through all the pain I was in. I felt squeezed as if I was lying under a road roller. I thought something hit us, and I was certain it was my last moment because there was no way how I could survive it, but surprisingly it got better, and we were standing in the yard in front of James’ old house, Drakeshaugh. My eyes could persuade me that I was alive, but my stomach was of another opinion, and suddenly all the lovely kidney pie dinner we had in a pub by the road was flying out me straight to the ground. I remember idiotically, how in the middle of all the craziness I felt for a couple of minutes most sorry for such a lovely dinner to be wasted.

James kept me all the time in his arms and when I finished heaving, he led me inside. We ended up in the kitchen, sitting on two high stools behind the bar in the middle of the room against each other. I was still in my pain-induced haze, and so I was just sitting half-collapsed on the bar and just half-following whatever James was doing. I was a bit shocked when he pulled out his wand, waved it, said something, and suddenly my broken hand went completely stiff, and I couldn’t move it at all. The pleasant part was that it didn’t hurt any-more, but still, it felt weird and I couldn’t stop myself from raising my opinion.

“What the fuck did you do? What the hell is going on?”

James was suddenly smiling at me.

“I am glad, Annie, you are swearing again. That’s a good sign! Sorry, the side-along apparition is horribly uncomfortable for the first time. I needed to get you out of there as soon as possible, somebody may still wait on us, and I was not sure I could defend you. And you need help to heal as well. I have to call my parents, but before that, we need to talk.

I am really sorry, Annie, I didn’t want it to happen this way, and I swear that it is not just because of the circumstances, I was preparing to ask you for a long time, but I am a coward and I couldn’t find a proper situation.”

I was so out of it; I couldn’t understand what he was talking about.

“What the hell are you talking about? I need you to call the ambulance and not just some fucking talking! Could you fetch somebody, _please_?”

The last word was not polite but a shouted demand.

“Sorry, Annie, but that’s exactly what I am working for. Before we can ask for help, I have to ask you something. Please, focus for a moment and trust me. This is not a joke, and I have to do it right now, but you are a law student, you understand that sometimes niceties must be observed.”

I still did not understand what he was talking about, until he, dirty, battered and probably slightly wounded himself as well, knelt on one knee in front of my barstool. It was weird, because the stool was so high that I was looking at the top of his head, and then when he turned to me, he was looking up, which felt weird for such a tall man. However, even though all my anger and pain I saw in his hazel eyes only sincerity and concern.

“Annabel May Charlton, I know that this is not the right place or right time, but I am absolutely sincere when asking you whether you would make me the biggest honour and agree to be my wife. Not today, or necessarily not soon, we can plan for whatever we decide is best for us. And yes, engagement can be broken, but would you agree that at this moment you want to marry me sometime later, and be my wife for the rest of our lives?”

“What the fucking hell? You decide to pop the question when I am in this state here in your parents’ kitchen! What the …”

And then it suddenly hit me, he mentioned something about the legal niceties and calling his parents. And I saw how even more pain and anguish than I can bear hit him.

“I am sorry, Jamie, I didn’t want to swear at you after the question, but what in the world is going on?”

His eyes were even sadder than before, but he was firm.

“I am really sorry, Annie, but I mustn’t tell you much more. This is such an awful situation, and I am really not trying to force the good answer from you. If you want to break up, or if you don’t feel ready yet, I will certainly take care of you another way, but it would be a way easier if we get through this well.

Please, trust me, and try to forget for a moment about the situation, your wound, your pain, about this dirt, and concentrate on what you really want.”

I still cannot let go of my annoyance with him. What the hell he was thinking! I am bruised, I have a broken hand, a large gash on the other one, I am dirty, late to the dinner with my parents, freaking out, and he asks me The Question! What the fuck?

However, then finally in the middle of all soreness and confusion, my legal brain started to work as well. What could force him to ask the question? To change our legal status, of course. Usually, because a bride-to-be is pregnant. Well, that was not an issue here. I knew. After James declined my offer of sleeping together because he felt too many secrets stood as a wall between us, we somehow never really revisited the issue, and I felt so comfortable with him, that I have let it be resolved somehow on its own eventually. A mild wave of panic ran through me. Is what I feel just a pleasant feeling from a homely return to my roots and isn’t he just a family friend in my heart? Are we doomed to have the sibling’s relationship without any passion? I looked at James kneeling in front of me and I immediately knew that’s not the case. Suddenly, I was sorely tempted to say yes just so that we can celebrate the whole night.

I dismissed this thought and returned to contemplating what exactly I feel about James. Being with him was being in peace, with him I was able to be who I am, and I did not feel the need to work too hard, because he was just naturally part of my life. That feeling of returning home was true, but it was James who was my home. When I looked around myself in the Drakeshaugh kitchen, I was suddenly overcome by the strong feeling of returning to my childhood. Unfortunately, I also immediately knew how I might have spent almost two years chasing Simon, who for anybody who knew me was obviously completely wrong for me. Getting to a good university in a big city and studying something so prestigious as the law was a big achievement for a girl from a small village somewhere in the middle of sheep and marshes. I knew that I had to sacrifice a lot to get there, and it was very easy to get convicted, that I have to hide my background from Simon, and taht I need to fit into the town world and pretend to be part of it. I was so used to that pretension that I have not even recognized how much I tried to make myself into a different girl to be acceptable for Simon. I suddenly felt incredibly fatigued from all that effort. There was no need for pretension with James. I didn’t have to have a different set of clothes, different entertainment, different life to be good enough for him. I could just relax. James knew me in my dirty torn jeans, and there was no pretence with him. If I chose to have special clothes or do something different, he appreciated it, but it was just for our enjoyment, it was not required. It smelled like the freedom to me.

When I got there with my thoughts, my first reaction was fear. Yes, the idea of returning home was very tempting, but wouldn’t I lose all that I have attained by my hard work so far? I took another look at James who was patiently still waiting until I finished the struggle with my thoughts. And I knew that saying yes wouldn’t be yet another pretence or yet another sacrifice for getting a boy. My home was not a place, it was a person, the one kneeling in front of me. James would never stop me from getting my best, he would always support me. And I would finally have somebody who would like to search for our common best, not only looking for himself. It felt like cheating because the answer to this life question should be difficult and hard to find, but it wasn’t. I remembered the quotation from some old American film, “Everything you were looking for was right there with you all along.”. Yes, his presence in my life now was so embarrassingly natural, that I finally recognized that he was the big missing part of my life until I met him in Sheffield. It was just too obvious.

“Of course, the answer is yes, you idiot. What else could it be? And yes, we need to talk about planning, because I am by far not ready to start a family now. I want to finish school, start my career and all that stuff, but of course, the answer is yes. Could you explain to me now, what’s going on?”

He embraced me very gently, but it was the moment when I felt like maybe exactly those crazy circumstances were worthy just for this embrace. I was suddenly certain I have his arms where I can completely fall apart and not be strong and be real. I started to cry in relief. What the hell is going on with me, that I am such a cry-baby? However, the day was such an emotional roller-coaster, and all fear, pain, and excitement suddenly went over me so much, that despite everything I just wanted to stay hidden in his arms.

James shuffled another stool to be next to mine, sat on it while still keeping me in his arms. I laid myself on his knees while he started to explain.

“You know, Annie, wow, my Annie, … sorry, back to the topic, you know that there are secrets, and rules forbidding me to disclose those secrets to anybody outside. You are a smart girl and lawyer, so I guess you have already figured out that I have got in conflicts with those rules in a big way, and that it led to my falling apart with my father, who is a law officer of a kind.

Well, the rules prohibiting wizards and witches from revealing the secret to Muggles were here for a long time, but for the same time, there were wizards and witches still falling in love with Muggles. Traditionally the magical spouses revealed the secret to their Muggle partner on their wedding night, but that was just too weird, and the Muggle spouse rightly felt betrayed and swindled into marriage by dishonesty. So, embarrassingly only a few years ago they eased the rule a little, that it is possible to reveal the truth even to fiancée. There is some level of commitment presented, but at least the Muggle spouse can still break the engagement if they cannot get over the existence of the magical world, or they are not willing to submit to the International Statute of Secrecy. Their memory would be modified, of course, but it felt like the best compromise available.

The rest is simple. I need to talk to my father about the ambush, well, I could talk to any Auror, but I think my Dad would be rightly offended if I talked with anybody else, and my mum was the professional Quidditch player for years, so she is excellent in the healing magic for broken limbs and bruises. So, I really need them here, and I combined pleasure with necessity when asking you the question.”

And then we finally kissed one another. It was just a nice proper post-engagement kiss, unfortunately a wee too short, because my hand was now truly in pain again, but I just did not want to skip this part over. And the kiss was a promise of so many more times together, much more pleasant than this one.

While I was still leaning on him, it took me just a second before my poor brain got really in the action again and I found a problem.

“Wait, so that works for me, but what about my parents and Henry? Is this the reason why your parents separated from us? Mine never talked about it, but I am sure my Mum was hurt a lot when she lost Aunt Ginny as a friend.”

“Yes, I know, and my mum was broken about it all the time, and no, our engagement doesn’t cover them. While you are in, it follows, you cannot tell anybody, and I mean anybody, who is outside. Your memory would get erased of everything related to magic, me included, and I would go to a very unpleasant magical jail for a long time, perhaps for life.”

“Yikes!”

“Yes, exactly. Concerning your parents and Henry, we probably can find a way now, with us being engaged, but we need my Dad for it, and it will take some time. I really should contact my parents now.”

He gently unrolled me from his embrace and let me just lean against the bar, and jumped down from the stool. I saw him when he went to the next large sitting room and kneeled down in front of the large fireplace, which was there.

“I know, I could call them by the mirror, but they will need a Floo working anyway, and at least we will know that the fireplace is still connected.

Look, Annie, this is one useful spell.”

And he pointed his wands towards the fireplace with some large blocks of wood and shouted “ _Incendio!_ ”. Suddenly, all wood was lit, not by fire slowly growing up, but it was a full blaze at once. Then he pulled a large jar from the mantle of the fireplace and took a pinch of green powder from it, threw it to the fire, and cried.

“Common Piece in Sutton!”

Flames turned green, and now he called in a normal voice.

“Mum, Dad?”

I remembered about magic from my childhood, and I just saw lighting up large logs by magic, but still, it was unnerving when I heard the voice of Uncle Harry from the fireplace.

“James? Where are you?”

“Hi, Dad. In Drakeshaugh. I would need both you and Mum here. It is an emergency, could you come, please?”

I heard much more quietly like from a larger distance “Ginny, come here, James needs us in Drakeshaugh.” and then only a second later Uncle Harry jumped out of the fireplace with his wand drawn.

He scanned his surroundings and when he saw me, his concentration turned to anger.

“James! What she is doing here?”

He started to point his wand at me.

“Dad, stop! It is all right, we just got engaged, I haven’t broken any law.”

“Engaged? Do you understand that it must be a sincere commitment, not just a sham engagement?”

That made me angry. I jumped down from the stool prepared to shout at my father-in-law-to-be, but then I immediately stopped swearing how the pain hit me. Which was even better, because that was the moment when my mother-in-law-to-be just came through the fireplace, so she heard some rather creative words I used. She, however, was completely unfazed.

“Hello, Anna! Hello, James, what’s going on?”

“First, Mum, Dad, let me reintroduce you to my fiancée, Annabel May Charlton.”

The face of the Aunt Ginny lightened up.

“Oh, finally! Congratulations to both of you! Welcome to the family, Anna!”

However, Uncle Harry was still suspicious.

“James? What’s going on? If talking about marriage is an emergency, then I am afraid to ask.”

James immediately turned crimson red and I felt my embarrassment had to show as well.

“No, Dad, nothing like that. I am afraid this is really a case for you. We were driving a bike to come here, to visit Annie’s parents, and we passed the bridge over the River Coquet, somebody attacked us. The Reductor Curse straight to the middle of the bike. I didn’t have a second to react to it. Annie got hurt, she has a broken arm, and something else, and I didn’t know how much danger we are in. So, I took her and apparated us here. I admit, the situation probably sped up my asking, but I was seriously contemplating it for some time, I even have the ring at home, and she said yes.”

He was very tense when he started to talk with his father, but I was charmed seeing how his face completely lit up talking about me saying yes. Aunt Ginny moved fast to me.

“Anna, which hand is it?”

“This one is broken, and the other one,” I have lifted my jumper and shown my hands, “has this gash on it. There was some piece of metal sticking out of the crash barrier which cut me pretty badly. James did something with that gash, but he was not sure how to heal a broken limb well. It doesn’t hurt so much any-more when I am not jumping from a stool. James immobilized it by some spell.”

“Yes, but that is just a very temporary solution, I really need to take a look at it.

Guys, Harry, shouldn’t you leave for that place of crime? I need to look at this, and we don’t need any guys around when Anna needs to take down her shirt.”

I was surprised when even adult Uncle Harry turned red embarrassed, and James immediately took him by his arm, turned at the spot, and both vanished with a loud crack.

Aunt Ginny looked around with a bit of disapproval to the thin layer of dust which covered everything, but then she turned to me.

“So, is there any pain right now?”

I have checked myself and decided at that very moment there is no significant pain going on.

“I think the problem earlier was moving, when I am just standing here, there is nothing in serious pain, but yes, I am bruised and sore all over my body.”

She relaxed a bit, and then finally she really smiled again.

“Welcome back to Drakeshaugh, Anna. I am so glad to see you again. You grew up in a lovely woman.

This will take a moment to fix you, and I would like to have us more comfortable for that. And I am so glad, I can use charms in front of you.”

With these words, she waved her wand once and suddenly all dust around us disappeared. Another wave of the wand and a kettle on the stove flew under the tap and filled itself with water. Then it returned and the water was boiling in a minute. She looked at me cautiously and apologized.

“James told me how much you like good tea, so sorry, for your return to Drakeshaugh I have only old Darjeeling, which I am afraid is a bit stale.”

I felt like we will never get out of embarrassment this evening.

“Aunt Ginny, don’t be silly, of course, I don’t know what James told you, but I am not stupid. I would love to have a cuppa. And I am sure it will be a lovely one. Thank you.”

Only when tea and some biscuits were on the bar, she asked me to sit back on the stool. Pulling down the jacket and shirt which were stuck with blood to my body was quite unpleasant, and doing it using just one hand which cannot move well was even worse, but we have managed. It felt strangely homely but weird when I was sitting in the kitchen in front of my mother-in-law-to-be just in my bra, but she was looking at me with a completely professional attitude and waved her wand first over a large gash on my left hand. She was happy with her findings, so she waved over it and spoke firmly “ _Episkey!_ ” The wound immediately closed and the hand was whole again.

“Wow! That is awesome! Can you do something with the broken hand too?”

“I am sorry, not that easily. I will conjure a splint over it, and then you will get _Skele-gro_ , and I get you some pain-relieving potion. Both of these taste horrible, but they should help a lot. Sorry, it will be whole back only in the morning!”

“What? Only in the morning? Overnight healing for a broken arm? That’s unbelievable!”

She smiled a bit.

“Right, the Muggle way it would take longer, right? Overnight is the best I can do.”

She turned to a cabinet above the stove and pulled out two small bottles one with white content and the other one deep purple. She let me down the purple one and it tasted rather unpleasant, but nothing extraordinary, some medicines I used were worse. Then she filled a tablespoon with the very thick liquid and handed the spoon to me.

“It really tastes horrible, just get it down and don’t think about it.”

She was right, the whole thing smelled like a combination of smelling socks and rotten vegetables, and I almost couldn’t swallow it, but I focused my mind on tea standing in front of me, and let the horrible liquid flow down my throat, followed by the whole cup of tea just to wash away the horrible taste.

“It better be useful, because it is really horrible.

I should contact my parents; they will start to worry pretty soon. They expect us for dinner.”

“Anna, remember you shouldn’t tell them anything about us being here. Unfortunately, part of living on the frontier between the magical and Muggle world as we were living is that you have to be prepared to have a cover story for all life situations. Yes, I am asking you to learn to lie, but there is not much to do about it, I am afraid. We should eventually be able to fix the situation with your parents and Henry, I hope, but for others, yes, it sucks.

You cannot explain even why we are suddenly back in the Drakeshaugh without awkward problems. I swear, I will do whatever possible to renew contact with them soon. I miss your Mum a lot, but don’t put yourself in trouble by talking about us now. You had an accident on a bike, James took you here and gave you first aid and fresh clothes. Don’t tell them the hand was broken, because you cannot explain why it is going to be fixed so soon. You will get down to Lintzgarth in an hour.

And I should really get you some clean shirt. I will try to do something about that jacket, but the shirt is so soaked in blood and torn, that you should probably forget about it.”

I nodded and thought about what to tell my Mum. Then I pulled out my phone and called her. The conversation went as expected, and although I was tempted to mention the engagement, I decided not to do anything about it without James present. She was concerned, worried and excited in the right places, and she agreed that they will wait for us in an hour. When I hung up, Ginny came back with a white shirt and a jumper.

“Bathroom with shower is down those stairs to the left, and I have found this shirt, which Hermione left here some time ago; she is slightly taller than me, so the shirt should fit better. And I think this is old Lily’s jumper, so that should fit as well. And don’t worry about the bandage, it can go underwater.”

I went to the bathroom and was struck how suddenly a lot of things made sense. Of course, all lights were turning on automatically when I went to the particular room, like with a light sensor. Water in the shower was voice-controlled (which was incredibly convenient). I finally felt like I was allowed to enter a new hidden world with a lot of miracles. I managed to do my shower even with just one hand, but I haven’t found a blow-dryer, and whatever I tried to do with my trousers, they were still kind of dirty. I returned to the kitchen clean, in much better shape than before, but not completely ready to face my mum.

Ginny took just one look at me and started to apologize.

“Damn, I forgot, of course, I will dry your hair. There is a charm for it.”

She waived with her wand in a strange pattern and suddenly all dirt from the trousers vanished. Another swish and strong stream of hot dry air lifted my hair and made them dry in a minute. However, she then rather firmly asked me to sit.

“Harry sent me a message that they will be back in ten minutes, so we need to talk fast.”

I haven’t understood, but I lost a bit of composure from her rather stern look at me. I felt like when my Mum wanted to scold me.

“Anna, you were absolutely not surprised when we have shown magic to you. Please, be absolutely honest, and tell me: did James tell you? Even if he broke the law, don’t cover for him, I need to know, so we can agree on how to talk with Harry.”

I didn’t know what to say. On the one hand as a law student, I knew I needed help from somebody who has an idea about the laws which were completely unfamiliar to me, but it felt too much like a betrayal of James. How could I betray my fiancée not even an hour into the engagement? My uncertainty was obvious because Ginny picked up on it.

“Anna, I am his mother. And after the mess they made with Harry a couple of years ago, we just couldn’t afford another round of that, I don’t think their relationship would survive. I couldn’t lie to Harry, but I am certain I can persuade him not to ask questions where he doesn’t want to hear the answers.”

So, I was right. This was the same as when she discovered we broke the window playing footie. This was the person I remembered. Fiercely kind and friendly, but strict and honest, and yet able to navigate the treacherous waters if these two loyalties got in a conflict. I suddenly knew that I could trust her with James.

“Yes and no. No, James didn’t tell me anything since we’ve met in Sheffield until I said ’yes’ here. He was actually very careful not to say anything, even when it almost caused a fight between us. Neither did other kids tell us anything. The only piece of magic I have seen in that time was when he … how do you call it? … teleported us here? Actually, there was one more time all of us seven got somehow transported from here to Sheffield in a moment, but I really don’t know what they did … did your kids do something to my and Henry’s memory? I don’t know.

However, yes, of course, he and Rose and Al and Lily and Hugo told us with Henry everything when we were kids. We were made to forget everything when we were … actually, that’s a matter of dispute among all seven of us, when our memories were modified, but it was not that long after my glorious eleventh birthday. However, when I met him, I started to have really weird dreams about the things which were impossible. Try to imagine how I felt, when one night out of nothing, I, a perfectly normal girl, dreamed about myself being tortured by a curse. Then more dreams came, and then we met, all seven of us, we both with Henry remembered almost everything.”

Ginny looked at me sharply.

“You dreamed what? Being tortured by a curse?”

“Yes, we were standing on the top of the Drakestone, looking for someone, I didn’t know at the time who it was, and I was suddenly hit by a curse, which made my whole body be in pain. Even in that dream, it was something so horrible, I couldn’t imagine how I could come with the idea of so much pain on my own.”

I stopped because now Ginny looked completely angry. She stopped me sharply.

“I am sorry to ask you again, but I have to be absolutely hundred percent certain that I hear correctly. That wasn’t just a dream, was it?”

“No, it apparently wasn’t, but I have remembered that only later, first, it was really just a very weird dream.”

“Somebody tortured you with a curse?”

“Most likely, well, let me rephrase. I really don’t know how much my restored memories could be used as evidence in the court of law, but if I remember correctly, and some other wizard didn’t plan this memory into me then I remember quite clearly that this truly happened and I have even the whole story explaining it.”

There was a long moment of silence. Then Ginny went for more questions.

“You mentioned it a minute ago all seven of you had their memories modified, not only you and Henry. Did I understand you correctly?”

“Yes, that’s what we were talking about recently, and it seems so.”

“OK, then it is very simple. I will have to let Harry know, and he needs to bring his people here. What you are saying could mean quite nasty criminal investigation. So, we have to do everything very much by the book, and I shouldn’t talk with you about it too much beforehand. Just one more question, when you said you were tortured by a curse, did you see it coming? What colour had it?”

“Actually, I saw it come just dimly, by the corner of my eye, but it had that colour all the time it was one me, which was just some seconds I believe, although it felt like an eternity. It was a red light, but not a nice red like roses, but kind of dirty red towards a brown a bit, like a blood stain.”

Ginny didn’t say a word and pulled the mirror out of her pocket, and spoke to it firmly, but rather quietly. “Harry?”

The answer came in a couple of seconds, I saw Harry showing up in the mirror in dim light, not very well visible.

“Yes?”

“Can you talk?”

“Yes, we are just in the front yard of Drakeshaugh in fact. We have left somebody to collect evidence at the place of the attack.”

“I see, come here then, but I am afraid we are not done here yet. You will need somebody from the office to come.”

“What?”

“Come in.”

The outside doors opened and closed and both men ran to the kitchen. They thought that something sinister was going on in the house, so they had their wands out and ready.

“No, just that I was right I am afraid. And before Anna tells you about their memories, I think you need somebody from the office to make it into the official protocol.”

Harry looked at me very closely. I was a bit nervous under his eyes, but in the end, he turned to Ginny.

“Are you absolutely certain that this is something which should be written into the official protocol?”

I have basically repeated all that I said to Ginny, and he was listening to me very carefully, looking slightly angry at James. However, when he spoke, there was more fear than just anger in his voice.

“James, so you were as kids breaking the International Statute of Secrecy for years?”

I still didn’t understand what was going on, but the tension between James and his father was considerable.

“Dad, I know that this is important, but couldn’t we let it go for a moment, and speak in the morning, please? I have my future parents-in-law waiting with dinner, and I am certain that this will be a long discussion, not something for a few sentences. This is if anything a ten-year old case, so postponing the interview by one night won’t change anything.”

I was afraid that Uncle Harry was so angry that he won’t let it go, but he surprised me. He turned to me and said: “I am sorry, Anna, James is right, we shouldn’t let your parents wait. Yes, do you think it would be possible to meet here in the morning, let’s say at nine, and I will be better prepared for the proper official interview? And yes, if what you told me is really so, then you could help a lot to make people who made your life complicated be punished for this mess. I would really appreciate it if you could help me to get them.”

“Uncle Harry, …”

“Just Harry, please.”

“Right, yes, I am a law student, it is my duty to help law, and it would be fun to find out how your law enforcement works. We will be here. I guess, if there was some problem with time, James can connect you via that mirror thingy, right?”

Harry just nodded while James was drawing me out of the room, calling our goodbyes to his parents. When we left the house, he kissed me again. We could enjoy ourselves a little longer, but this time it was me who interrupted us.

“James, we should really go. It is at least twenty minutes’ walk, and I have promised to be there in five minutes.”

James kissed me again and when I struggled to get away from him, he calmly told us we had enough time.

“We will probably apparate there to make it on time anyway. Will you be able to make it once more today?”

“Will it get better, or I should prepare to throw again all over this jumper, which is not even mine?”

“I am afraid it won’t get better, I heard that side-along apparition is always a horrible experience for Muggles, but I think you will eventually learn how to endure it. If you just let it go and you won’t fight it, you may eventually learn to survive it without vomiting.”

“Thanks for words of hope. Oh well, let’s do it.”

James embraced me completely and when we reappeared in the field behind the Lintzgarth, the feeling was horrible, but at least I didn’t throw up this time. Oh well.


	2. Next morning in Drakeshaugh

The dinner with my parents was nice and peaceful. They were excited about their engagement, but they were even happier when I declared that we didn’t plan to abandon my studies and start my career. Anyway, James had to admit to my dad, that no, he didn’t have the salary at the moment to provide for me, but that if the worst came to the worst, we could probably get backed up by the wealth of Potter’s family. After I settled down my rage from this stupid question, we had a pleasant evening. Now, when I was looking from the inside, I had to appreciate James’ trained skills of avoiding problematic questions and transferring the conversation to less dangerous subjects.

Considering our engagement, my parents without even discussing it allowed us to be both in my old bedroom together. However, I was still so tired and sore, that I quickly agreed that we would postpone the proper celebration to sometime later, and that night we truly just slept. We got up early and after a quick breakfast, we actually went walking to Drakeshaugh. Both my father and James suggested faster modes of transportation, but I have insisted that I would like to actually walk. It was our first private time together as the engaged couple, and I really wanted to make sure we have some plans how our engagement and our future work together. After a nice walk by the West Wood, we arrived with some small interruptions on the way at James’ parents’ house after less than half-an-hour.

Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny were already waiting for us. It was very much how I remembered Aunt Ginny waiting on us with a large breakfast prepared. I was trying to reject it claiming that we have already had breakfast, but James gave up immediately, he knew his mother too well, and in the end, I was nibbling on her excellent scones and having tea while we were talking. Together with them, there was the tall woman, roughly as tall as me, dark-skinned with curly black hair, and very fit, in the police uniform.

Harry also introduced us to her.

“Anna, this is Detective Inspector Tallulah Smith, who works with us on many of our cases.”

I was not sure what cases he meant, but I was not hiding my surprise.

“Detective Inspector? But that’s a rank in the normal, what do you call it, Muggle police, isn’t it?”

She smiled and offered me a handshake.

“Yes, I am a perfectly respectable Muggle. Well, respectable, I was in this assignment so long, I am getting a distance from the Muggle world. But yes, I work for the Metropolitan Police, and I am just on the assignment with the Auror Office. That’s why Harry asked me to be here.”

“How? I mean, James was lecturing me yesterday on the harsh penalties of breaking the Statute of Secrecy. So, the police know? This sounds like a paranoid _X-files_ conspiracy. Are we just living in _The Matrix_?”

“No, it is not so bad. Well, there is a conspiracy, but it is not so widespread and it is certainly not an illegal one. The Prime Minister is completely read-in, so when the magical police need cooperation from the Muggle one, they can ask him to make the call. And, I guess, …” she looked questioning to Harry, “… Her Majesty is in the know as well?”

Harry nodded and responded.

“Yes, she, her husband, and the Prince of Wales are read into. She has even a tiny magical protection unit hidden under the many layers of the protective red tape, which is completely separate from the Ministry of Magic.”

My head was aching again, but the woman continued.

“For the most magical population this is not very important, the two worlds are living next to each other quite separately and witches and wizards usually don’t even think about it, but of course there are problems where the lines between the two worlds are too close, like in the law enforcement, and I guess, …” she was checking with Uncle Harry again, “… St. Mungo has its own special arrangements as well.

And there are some other small and inconspicuous arrangements which make two worlds living next to each other possible. For example, Mr Potter’s cousin is a policeman, nothing special, just a Detective Sergeant, but somehow through the office of the Prime Minister and MI5 he has got absolutely ridiculously high security-clearance and permission to get any information from any police database without presenting any reasons. Nobody notices anything, but when we need for example information about house ownership or owner of some particular car, we can get the information swiftly and without any hitches.”

Harry nodded again and continued.

“Yes, this is how it works, but that is not the point why we are telling you this. This is not about boasting. You are a student of law, and so I wanted to make it perfectly clear to you, that there is absolutely nothing illegal going on. Even from the Muggle side of the law, this is perfectly correct. Yes, secret, but you are not joining some terrorist organization or anything. There are even royal charters establishing all this from the time when the Statute of Secrecy was ratified, that’s sometime around The Glorious Revolution.”

That sounded completely fascinating to me. Completely separate system of laws in the country I live in! However, before I could start to nourish my curiosity, Harry stopped the flow of my thoughts.

“So much for the assurance, and now we can get to the business. Let me set up the parchment and quills.”

Uncle Harry turned to the small table, and he started to pull some parchments and other stuff from a suitcase he brought. I saw my opportunity to satisfy at least partially my curiosity, so I have asked the ladies who were sitting next to me and James.

“Did Uncle Harry say ‘ratified’? Does it mean that that statute is actually an international treaty?”

Ms Smith smiled.

“Of course, you would pick this up. Yes, I have no idea why it is called the statute when it is a convention. Some historical reasons, I guess. There is the International Confederacy of Wizards, kind of the equivalent of the magical United Nations, which oversees the Statute. So, when the British Ministry fought for the accepting Involved Muggles Amendment, we had to work through international diplomacy to get it through, and they say it was an absolutely horrible experience.”

Aunt Ginny smiled at me.

“The main drafting work was done by Hermione, mum of Hugo and Rose, and both her and Harry were saying that the main impetus for suggesting the change was their experience with your family.”

I was so shocked and embarrassed that I couldn’t say a word. Ms Smith, however, jumped to my rescue.

“Ginny, you are too melodramatic, you were with The Daily Prophet for too long. That experience may have pushed their butts to do something, but the main reasons were much more pragmatic. The situation was just a mess before. The Statute works with nicely divided worlds of us Wizards and them Muggles, but life was just too complicated. So, the Wizengamot, that is the British magical parliament, had to make a special law before I could work for the Auror Office because I had no official standing under the Statute. Whenever stray spells from the magical criminal activity hit a Muggle, he was in St. Mungo, and the Ministry had basically an equivalent of an international situation on its hands. It was just unbearable. There is not enough wizarding clergy in Britain, and especially if you are not from CoE, then you are almost always out of luck. Roman Catholic wizards repeatedly wiping memory of their priest after every Sacrament of Confession just felt wrong, especially when it was mostly unnecessary because even a Muggle priest can be expected to keep his mouth shut because of the Seal of Confession. The same goes for MI5: we somehow missed, or we chose to miss, that there are Muggles who work with much more sensitive information than just the existence of the magical world. The Statute just didn’t work well.”

Meanwhile, Uncle Harry finished his preliminaries, and he was waiting for us.

I had a hard time to look for a longer time on the beautiful quill which stood on its own in the air, writing on the piece of parchment on his own. It just looked wrong. However, I had to admit that it worked really well. Just in front of me, it created the perfect transcript of the interview (multi-coloured, one colour for each participant).

We have finished explaining all our stories as children, and how all seven of us started to dream about our memories after I first met James in Sheffield all those months ago. When we finished, everybody looked at each other, and we didn’t know what to say. First admitting it was Uncle Harry.

“OK, I have no clue how two Muggles can break through the professional Obliviation, and I have even less clue how to interpret this whole history in the view of the law. Tallulah? Any legal ideas?”

The policewoman just shook her head, saying nothing. Surprisingly, it was James who replied.

“I think I have two theories on what could have been going on. I haven’t mentioned it, because you haven’t asked yet, but all seven of us, when the oldest ones, me and Henry, were just ten, created a compact, and marked it with a drop of our blood each. How significant it could be?”

Both Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry jumped up in their seats with eyes wide opened.

“WHAT?”

They looked completely shocked and incapable of saying anything more. I looked at the policewoman with a question in my eyes, she looked back at me, but she just shook her head. She was however visibly more used to admitting her own ignorance in front of the magical world, and so she asked.

“Ehm, I haven’t got this one yet. What’s going on?”

Harry turned to her.

“You have heard about the Unbreakable Oath, haven’t you?”

Now, even Ms Smith looked panicking and nodded.

“So, that charm originates only from the sixteenth or seventeenth century. Until then the blood oath, Geas in the Old English, was the standard way to achieve the same.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Exactly.”

I cannot hold it longer.

“Could anybody, please, explain to this ignorant Muggle what we did?”

James got a bit pink when he recognized he had ignored my confusion, and he turned to me.

“The Unbreakable Oath is just a charm, which one makes when promising something to another.”

“Thank you, I am not completely stupid, and I know what the word ‘oath’ means. But how is it unbreakable? What happens when you break the promise?”

“You die.”

“Shit.”

“Exactly.”

“You mean, … you mean to say, that if I was blabbing about what we promised then, I would die?”

James slightly shook his head.

“I really don’t know for certain. We haven’t included any sanctions in that covenant, and we certainly haven’t meant it like that, and the intent is always a very important part of any magic. However, there was so much power in this oath that we broke through professionally obliviated memories, and I am really not curious enough to try to find out what would happen if that power turns against us, if it does.”

“I see. Hmm, what do you mean ‘professionally obliviated’?”

“Do you remember that Obliviator Raymond Patterson?”

“Yes, he was a spooky guy. He looked so perfect; I haven’t believed him for one second he meant well.”

“I wish I was so smart as you when I befriended his son. Oh well.

Well, yes, him. There are professionals modifying human memories as their job. Mostly Muggles who learn by accident something they shouldn’t. He was very good at it.

Dad, how many times have you heard about somebody breaking into professionally obliviated memories?”

Now it was Uncle Harry’s opportunity to shake his head.

“Never. He was excellent at it. Quite a cold-hearted guy, he was always perfect.”

“Was? Is he …?”

“No, it is even worse in some aspects. He quit his job to enter politics. He now stands as a candidate for the post of the Minister of Magic against my Aunt Hermione.”

“Fuck. I mean, sorry for my language, but I would really not want this man to be in power.”

“As I said, you are smarter than me, and I am really afraid you may be smarter than most of magical Britain.”

“That is not good.”

Harry interrupted us here.

“Sorry, I let you ramble for too long. Can we return to the relevant matters?

James, you said that you have two reasons why you think Anna and Henry broke through the obliviation. So, this blood contract is one, what’s the second?”

James stopped, he was focusing for a moment and started again.

“OK, talking about things which shouldn’t be talked about. There is a magical object, but I don’t think anybody out of the family should know about it. Technically, probably, even we shouldn’t know about it, but I think at this moment this may be necessary. Ms Smith, I am sorry, but could I ask you to step out for a moment, and could you stop that quill, please?”

I have looked at her with an apology.

“I am sorry, Ms Smith, but my Mum was always against showing this to anybody.”

The officer looked with a question on Harry, but he nodded, so she took the quill, put it on the other table, and she left the room. Harry and Ginny were looking with a question in their eyes on us.

I took off my jumper, and then I pulled out the pendant with the bloodstone I had underneath my T-shirt. Harry looked interested, but it was Ginny who looked really shocked. She couldn’t comprehend what she saw.

“Is this …? I can’t believe it! Is this real?”

Harry looked at her with suspicion.

“I mean, this is a very nice pendant, looks very old and Celtic, but what’s the matter with you?”

James looked at her smiling.

“I don’t know for sure, but yes, I believe that this is real.”

Ginny looked at both of us with her jaw down. Then she turned to Harry.

“You don’t have any idea, do you? I cannot believe it, I saw just a few bad pictures of it, but it really looks like the Merlin’s Claw.”

“The Merlin’s Claw? I have no idea what you are talking about. Remember, I was a muggle-raised wizard who slept through most of the Binn’s classes.”

James smiled at them.

“I believe it is the Merlin’s Claw, but I couldn’t make a bigger investigation, and I think I would rather not do it now, not mentioning Anna won’t let me study it much, which is probably right. And no, it wasn’t Merlin’s, but if this the thing, then it was owned by Gwenddydd, his twin sister.”

Harry turned to me.

“Anna, is this true?”

“I don’t know, really. The tradition in my family is that it was given from mother to the oldest daughter for many generations, but I could trace it only as far as what my Granny Wake told me about what her grandmother had told her. Fun fact is that the tradition is also that our family has always had a daughter in every generation for centuries, but that’s all I know for certain.”

Harry stretched out his hand towards me.

“Can I?”

I shook my head. “Just look, no touch.” and I kept the bloodstone claw in front of his eyes. He looked at it for a long time, and he turned to James.

“There are some runes on it. Did you translate them?”

“I was waiting whether you ask,” James smiled, “Yes, I have translated it. It says ‘Falcon flies alone, without its father.’”

Ginny finally collected herself and said.

“Do you know that the oldest legends, not preserved by Muggles, talk about the prophecy about Merlin as ‘a child born without a father’, right?” 1

Now it was my turn to be surprised.

“I didn’t know that. Actually, I have never been able to decipher what those signs mean. What language is it?”

James seemed to be happy to fill me in.

“No surprise there. It is not very well known even among wizards, who study Ancient Runic languages a lot, and I think it is mostly unknown by Muggles. It is called Rhaetian and it was spoken in pre-Roman times by people in the Eastern Alps. Magical folks still study these Ancient languages, because some of them have strong magical characteristics.”

“What do you mean, that the language has magical characteristics?”

“Exactly what I said. When somebody inscribed those runes on your jewel, they could infuse it with magic, which could be present there till this day.”

“Wow. Can you find out whether there is any magic there?”

Harry pulled out his wand.

“Yes, I can, probably better than James, detection of magic is a fairly common job for any Auror. However, I would have to make some magic over that jewel. Can I?”

“Do you promise that it won’t do anything to it?”

“Yes, I don’t want to do anything to it, just find out what magic is included. There will be just a bit of light around it, which makes it possible to analyse it.”

He waved his wand above my pendant and a huge ultra-bright flash of light made us blind for a moment. We all moved to avoid the light and all four of us fell on our backs on the floor. Surprisingly, it was me who asked first. I was angry.

“You said ‘a bit of light’! What the fuck was this?”

Harry looked at his wand as if it was guilty of treason.

“OK, this was more than a bit. I had no idea. Change of the analysis: there is not a bit of magic in your pendant. There is a lot of it, it is soaked in it. And it is some very ancient magic which I have no idea how it works. I promise I will never do anything like this again, and don’t let anybody do it either.

And yes, I completely reversed my conclusion. This could very well be from Merlin’s times, and then your mother was right, James. Anna, it would be probably completely unique, and the price could be absolutely anything, and you would be a way better if nobody knew what you have on your neck. For the Muggle parallel, imagine you have on your neck a pendant of Athelswith, the sister of Alfred the Great. You would be pushing away thieves all day long. And given the magic and how long it was in your family, I don’t think it is a good idea to take it down from your neck and store it in some safe. Just don’t show it to anybody.”

They were still sitting on the floor, and Uncle Harry completely ignored how undignified it looked, and he was sitting there contemplating the situation. Finally, he looked at me.

“And I have absolutely no idea what it means for your legal situation. There is the statute of limitations, which should cover at least part of your actions, but I don’t think it matters much for your current knowledge of secrets. Or rather, you are probably covered by the engagement, but I have no idea about Henry’s situation. However, if you unwittingly put yourself in the situation when you cannot be obliviated and you are magically compelled to share the truth with magical people, … I have no idea.

The other question is what’s the criminal responsibility of all magical children who told you the secret. But the oldest one was ten, so the responsibility is probably on us. But there is the statute of limitations again. And there is apparently no damage. And we had no clue about all this. And the magical compulsion to the mix. Oh boy.

OK, I know what I could do. I can take it as an anonymous and hypothetical question to the Wizengamot Prosecution Service. Of course, they will know I cover some real situation, but it is not the first time I asked them to evaluate the hypothetical, so we can decide how to proceed in the investigation.

OK, next.”

Only then he noticed he had been sitting on the floor, we all stood up, sat back on the chair at the kitchen table, and I put on my jumper again. Then he stood up again and called back Ms Smith, and they set up swiftly the interview recording stuff back again.

“So, I am of course personally interested in your situation, and I will have to handle it to somebody else who doesn’t have the conflict of interest, but it is not the most important piece of information I asked you to meet us this morning, Anna.”

My eyebrows went up.

“It isn’t?”

He turned very serious, suddenly he was a police officer looking at the grave case and not my friendly Uncle Harry.

“No, it isn’t. You both have said to Ginny that ‘you all’ were obliviated when you, Anna, was eleven. Is it true? Answer me both of you, separately, please.”

I volunteered first.

“Yes and no. We all had our memories somehow modified. And one thing we have a hard time to agree upon is for example when it actually happened. Before I met James in Sheffield last year, I always believed that I saw for the last time him, Lily, and other magical kids, after the disaster of my eleventh birthday. However, now I found some memories which we both have with Henry and which are inconsistent with that. For example, we both with Henry remember a conflict we all had whether to admit to our gang Al’s best friend Scorpius Malfoy. And all your kids are certain that we cannot have this conflict for another two years.

So, I believe that memories of all of us were somehow modified, but to varying degrees, and I think your kids had much more memory preserved.”

Uncle Harry turned to James.

“Yes, I basically agree with all what Anna said. I also believed that we’d lost touch around the time I hurt her on her eleventh birthday, but yes, we discovered some inconsistencies with that timing, and also, I have discovered that even the situation with her birthday was quite different from what I remembered. I truly prepared a prank on Annie, and it would be probably rather unpleasant, but it was Craig Patterson who put there ten times more of Bubotuber pus, which made it really painful and dangerous for Annie. I somehow forgot all that. And that is not all.”

Harry looked at him sharply.

“And do you understand what this means?”

James nodded sadly.

“Yes, the more painful and personal consequence is that my whole friendship with Craig has been built at least partially on the lie. Yes, he turned to be an ass, when he cheated on Lily, but I hoped that at least some of our relationship was true. Much more important generally is that illegal obliviation of magical children of the Head Auror and the Minister of Magic is a legal disaster. He may get to Azkaban for it for a long time, not mentioning he can forget his political career. However, I don’t know how you mean to prove all this. Obliviated memories of children which were suddenly recovered without an explanation and against all magical logic … you cannot even dream about using it as evidence at the court.”

I didn’t have to be a witch to understand that this is the litigation disaster waiting to happen. Harry saw it as well.

“Of course, there is no chance I can use your memories in court. Moreover, I don’t know if it would help or hinder Charltons’ case for them being recognized as the Involved Muggles. Although, they may be more involved than they hope for.” He snorted. “I really should leave these thoughts to our lawyers; it is really complicated.

However, nothing in the world stops me to use this as the impetus for my own investigation. So, is there anything more you may remember?”

I was sitting there, thinking, and then it was obvious.

“Most likely, if somebody wanted to mess up with our memories, then it was because we saw something, he didn’t want us to remember. What was the last thing we saw, James?”

“Oh, Mrs Peculiar Pink-Person? No, and don’t worry, I won’t mention those other titles you gave her, Annie. I have some sense of dignity.”

Harry was curious.

“Who was that woman?”

I have tried to answer.

“I think her name was Dorothy … no, not Dorothy, something even weirder. … It sounded like a Spanish name.”

Everybody else was silently waiting on me not willing to push me in any direction.

“Right, the name was Dolores, but I don’t remember the last name. That was something very English, I think. Do you know who she was? What happened to her?”

Uncle Harry snorted.

“Yes, of course, I know her. We have a long painful history together. She was following Drakeshaugh, then you were following her, she attacked you, and after some more adventures, she was caught, and after she was convicted of using the Cruciatus Curse on some witnesses of her crimes, she is now finally in Azkaban for life. That’s the matter of public record. Do you have anything more to add to it, Annie?”

I was sitting there, sipping my now rather cold tea, and I was trying to squeeze my poor brain to remember. The picture in my head was getting slowly clearer.

“There was somebody else with her. Two rough men. Hmm, how to describe them.”

Harry was just listening, letting me work on my memory, but James commented.

“I don’t think I saw anybody. I was jumping to the ground for cover so quick, I didn’t really look for anybody else.”

I finally recalled something.

“Both of them had long black coats, and one of them was somehow strange. Why do I think about a pirate? No, he had both legs, but he was somehow sinister … ah, I got it … one of those men had an eye patch on … my right, his left eye.”

Uncle Harry was suddenly very focused.

“Are you absolutely certain that he had just one eye functional? Anything else interesting about his looks?”

I was trying to focus on that moment again. It was hard because immediately after that I was hit with that incredible painful curse and it tended to cover this really very brief shard of memory. No, he wasn’t looking dangerous just because of one eye, but there was something more.

“He also had a large scar all over his face, from his top left, over that eye, to the right part of his jaw. He looked really wild.”

Once Harry heard what I said, he waved with his wand and the quill stopped.

“OK, so this is the point, where I have to stop this interview, and I have to excuse myself from this whole investigation. And I have no clue, how to continue because I believe everybody in the Auror Office, one way or another, will be biased and in the conflict of interest. I guess we will have to invite French Aurors or something.”

“What? Who is that person?”

“I don’t think I can even tell you, because I would be influencing a witness. Oh, Merlin, this is a mess!”

I have turned to James, who was suddenly also white as snow.

“Could two witnesses influence each other? You know who this was, right?”

He nodded.

“Yes, I know, and I wish I wouldn’t. The person you described looks very much like Raymond Patterson’s brother, who is relatively a shady character, and who was seriously injured during The Battle of Hogwarts. At least, he was on the right side there.”

“Oh. Raymond Patterson, as in the guy who obliviated us and you? And who is now running in the elections against your aunt?”

“And yes, almost everybody in the Auror Office is a personal friend of both my Dad and Aunt Hermione, so it will be difficult to find somebody unbiased. Dad, can you pass the investigation to some regional Sheriff Office?”

“Yeah, probably, that’s one option. However, they are really not equipped to launch this large Britain-wide detective investigation. I don’t know what we will do yet.”

* * *

In the end, that and other options happened. Uncle Harry secretly asked the French Bureau des Aurors to send somebody to start the investigation, and so I spent two afternoons in a small café near my University with the French lady, who asked me very thoroughly about my story (fortunately, she spoke perfect English). The rest I learned only from what Uncle Harry and James told me. French Aurors soon found some glaring holes in the explanations by Mr Patterson and the investigation quickly grew into a nation-wide scandal. Tens of sheriffs from multiple regional offices were ploughing through the avalanche of records on obliviating, and they found some very incriminating documents. Apparently, by obliviating witnesses, he was covering some very nasty crimes of his brother.

Uncle Harry used the time when he was pushed from most of the action in the Auror Office to swiftly investigate the case of ambush against us with James, and he closed it pretty quickly. Apparently, some son of a smuggler of cursed jewellery, who was sent to Azkaban by Aurors, didn’t get over the shame of being related to a criminal and decided to take his revenge on the son of the Head Auror.

The case of our possible breach of the International Statute of Secrecy caused a collective headache to all lawyers at the Ministry. After a week of reading conflicting memos and legal briefs, and considering that no actual damage was done, the chief of the Wizengamot Prosecution Service gave up and persuaded the Minister of Magic to ask Wizengamot to grant all us seven children the blanket pardon for anything we did by breaking the Statute of Secrecy. I have been already covered by my engagement, but the officials decided that the current status of Henry and my parents will be decided separately and I still couldn’t even tell anything to my brother about ongoing proceedings.

I have however followed all these developments just from distance. After a rather intense celebration of our engagement, I have started to seriously contemplate where to go with our relationship and how fast. Suddenly, when we agreed to be eventually together, I had a hard time to find reasons why ‘eventually’ and why not to be together all the time. Yes, I still wanted to finish school and started my legal career, but I would really prefer to do all these things together with James. And while I was brooding over our relationship, the impact of me spending most of my time with James instead of with my legal studies made itself felt as well, so I had to spend more time on working on my thesis and school work.

1
    

Merlin is even in the Muggle legends known as the one without a father. Magical history of Merlin’s origin is beautifully described in another story by Northumbrian, “[Bloodstone](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7155281)”.


	3. Return to Lintzgarth

It has been confusing six months since our daughter Anna called us one September morning to tell us she broke up with her long-time boyfriend Simon Faversham. It was actually a relief to us because our waiting was finally over. We have agreed with Mike pretty soon after we first learnt about Simon, that he is not a man we would like our daughter to be with, but we knew that she is stubborn enough that any comments from us in this direction would just strengthen her resolve to stay with him. So, we were just waiting and trusting her clever head she will recognize it as well, or perhaps we would be humbled, and we would all find out how awesome man Simon was. In the end, it turned out that we were probably right after all, and Annie called us that morning to tell me with some little tears and a lot of anger how she found Simon with another woman. We have later learnt from Henry that Annie mentioned on her social network page (where she banned access to us), that she met by chance James Potter the very same day, but what followed was almost perfect radio silence. Yes, she called us from time to time to tell us how her studies go, but absolutely nothing about her relationships or about any of her friends.

So, it was the biggest shock to me, when she called us one Saturday morning and asked me whether they could come together in the evening with James for dinner. She didn’t mention anything special, so it was another big surprise when she turned up in clothes which were certainly not her own, she was bruised with one hand in a sling, announcing as the first thing they just got engaged. It was weird, and suddenly I felt like back living next to Potters when there were always those things which didn’t make complete sense, but to my shock, it was like if Annie switched from being on our side to being one of them now.

She was saying that her hand is all right, just bruised, and it will be perfect in the morning, but when looking at her, that hand looked like being stiff in a plaster. They were saying that the bike slid, but it was very dry weather the last couple of days, and James didn’t look very guilty, and, what is even more remarkable, Annie was not angry with him. I was certain that there was something they were not telling me, but Annie was looking so incredibly happy, that I didn’t feel like interrupting her glow, and we were happily chatting about everything else. And again, there was something strange about their engagement: apparently, it was so sudden, that she didn’t have a ring on her hand. In the end, I have come to the same conclusion as before with Simon: I could only decide whether I trusted them or not. So, I let them tell their sanitized version of the last six months of their life, and I have still enjoyed it very much.

We couldn’t talk too long, because even though Annie tried to look like nothing happened she was tired and she needed her rest. I could happily let them sleep in one bedroom, and after all, they were engaged, and Anna looked so beaten, I was certain that they were really only sleeping. In the morning, they quickly ate their breakfast and walked away again.

I haven’t heard from them for another month or so, when one morning Annie called me, whether they could come next Saturday morning, that they have something important to tell us, and whether they can bring James’ parents as well. The moment she told me that I had immediately shouted that of course, they should come, I so much wanted to see Ginny Potter again.

When I finished my call with Annie, I was so excited, that I was just able to sit down and focus on my breathing. And at the same time, I have been completely overwhelmed by the need to prepare ourselves for the visit. Before the kids left for the university (and Henry later for his job), I had hoped we would get our house renovated and recover our social life once we won’t be overwhelmed by the constant mess radiating from our children. However, the truth is that when we were not meeting with the parents of our children’s classmates, we were more isolated than ever before. And whom I am kidding, Potters were our closest friends, and when they left without much explanation, we were so hurt, we didn’t manage to make new friends for a long time. And with no need to entertain our visitors, we have never made enough effort to fix our place and make it perfect again.

The panic attack subsided first when I mentioned my worries to Mike. He reminded me that Potters knew us for almost ten years, and so there was not much we can do to pretend to be somebody else than we truly are. He also mentioned that evening with the bottle of wine, Ron Weasley, and completely disgustingly ugly orange hat, and suggested that if any Potter has even whiffed of any negative thoughts in our direction, I should mention it. After I stopped laughing (and after I finished the glass of the fantastic Rhine Riesling he gave me), I decided to believe him, and so I have cleaned our house only once on Thursday and for the second time on Friday.

I was originally thinking about a nice BBQ party outside, the weather was getting warm enough that we could sit on the patio, but in the end, I have decided to go with the certain and simple solution of Pork Chops á la Provençale with caramelized cognac apples. Mike bought us really nice bottles of Chianti, so on Saturday morning, I was prepared for the worst. Anna asked us whether they could come earlier in the morning because they first needed to talk with us about something else, and they didn’t want to talk business over lunch.

I was still very anxious whether we could click together again after all those years, and I felt a bit of pain and anger from Potters leaving us without any explanation, but I forgot who I was meeting with. Just when she got out of the large black Range Rover, Ginny ran towards me and without saying anything she crushed my ribs in the strongest hug I have experienced since I last saw her.

“Jacquie, I am so sorry. I missed you so much.”

What could I say? I was still in shock (and catching my breath) and so I managed just to engage my finger memory of politeness and invite all four of them inside.

We sat on the patio, with a large pot of hot tea and some warm blankets for whoever would need them. We looked down from our garden to the fields behind the fence, and I knew that I am on the edge of some important change in our lives. I have started with my question which tortured me all that time.

“I heard you, Ginny, saying that you were sorry, but I am more interested to know why? What are you sorry for? What happened that you suddenly just left without any explanation or anything? Did we do something wrong?”

Small pain of insecurity again a bit into my conscience. Do Potters even want to be our friends again, or did they return just because of the engagement between Annie and James?

Ginny wanted to say something, but she was interrupted by my Annie.

“Aunt Ginny, may I ask Uncle Harry to explain everything, please? I am afraid that this will be an official statement, and he should start.”

However, he was immediately interrupted by Ginny. I had been looking at Ginny for some time, and I couldn’t get rid of the feeling she really resembled somebody. It took me all the time we were collecting tea stuff and biscuits, and in the end, I have remembered. I heard “Ode to My Family” by Cranberries on radio couple of days ago, and I haven’t been able to get rid of the earworm of first few tones of the song, and so it is no wonder Dolores O’Riordan came easily to my mind, I have always been impressed by her containing so much power, passion, and rage in so small package. I gulped. Mrs O’Riordan died a couple of years ago. So much happened since we last talked with each other! Looking at Ginny again, I was therefore not surprised that she couldn’t be contained by my daughter.

“No, I don’t want us to be the official. I want to say first how sorry I am that I couldn’t have this talk those ten years ago when we had to move out of Drakeshaugh. We just didn’t know how to explain to you, why we have to separate from us, and why, if it wasn’t for Anna and James we wouldn’t be able to talk to you again.”

She then looked at Harry, who was clearly waiting for his cue.

“Well, Ginny slightly jumped the gun. What we would like to tell you is the explanation of everything behind what we called the Official Secrets Act. The point is that if you are let in, it means a lot of responsibility. You will have to protect the secret whenever you see it to be in danger, and for the wilful leak of it, there are some really harsh penalties, like in the worst case, life-long imprisonment in a really nasty prison. This is really no joke.”

He was interrupted by Annie.

“However, I am now in, and even though I understand that the possible punishments are really harsh, I have to assure you, that however weird it looks, it is all perfectly good and legal. And well, if you decline to be read in, there will be a pretty large wall in between us.”

That was not exactly comforting, and I was afraid that my look at Mike was one big question mark on my face. In the end, there was no question however, we just couldn’t imagine anything standing between us and Annie, and we were back at the simple question, whether we trusted her or not. We certainly did, so we agreed, and asked Harry to continue.

He started.

“I asked Minerva McGonagall how she introduces the parents of Muggleborns, and she told me that there is just no easy way to introduce people gently. You just have to bash them over their head, and just pick up the pieces afterwards. So, …

Magic is real, and all Potters and Weasleys,” he looked for a moment at Annie, “so far, are wizards and witches.”

I was confused at that moment.

“What do you mean ‘magic’? I don’t think you mean magicians doing shows for kids, right? Or is it some kind of metaphor for something?”

Harry smiled and shook his head.

“No kid shows, although that is a great idea. And no, I mean it quite literally. The fairy-tale stuff, _Abracadabra_ , _Hocus-pocus_ , wands like this one.” And with these words, he pulled out of his shirt a very long thin beautifully carved stick of wood.

I was looking at all four of them, and I was just waiting for them to start laughing and explaining the joke. However, they were completely focused and serious, and Annie was, if I understood her face correctly, a wee bit worried.

Mike didn’t waste his time on analysing their faces and went straight for shouting.

“What the hell? You made us expect some great revelation and explanation and instead, you brought this cock-and-bull story? You ignore us for ten years, and we are supposed to believe this nonsense? Get out of my house! And Annie, what the hell, what this is supposed to mean?”

Annie looked a bit hurt, but she was always a fighter, and she hasn’t given up.

“Dad, stop, please! This is not a cock-and-bull story, believe me. Do you remember, how, when we came to you for dinner, and we announced our engagement, I had a hand in a sling? We truly had an accident on the bike, and no, James was completely innocent in that, and the hand was actually cleanly broken. Aunt Ginny, here, gave me some potion, and it healed itself through one night. In the morning when we got our breakfast here, I still kept it in a sling just for a show.”

Mike was looking at Annie with a slightly vacant look, and he didn’t look like he knew what to say. She continued.

“Uncle Harry, could you show them something to persuade them, please?”

Harry Potter was looking at us for a moment, and then he pulled out his wand and waved with it. A large bouquet of flowers burst from his wand—large periwinkle chrysanthemum surrounded by several small orange roses. It was beautifully arranged. He caught the flowers with his other hand and with a small bow gave them to me.

“One shouldn’t come to visit without flowers for the mistress of the house. At least that’s what I remember from my Muggle childhood.”

Ginny smirked. “Except it is really not that common between wizards and witches, because flowers don’t prove he actually remembered, he could conjure the perfect bouquet behind the doors just before the ringing of the bell.”

Her joke broke finally through my consternation and I took the flowers and thanked them.

“However created they were, thank you very much. They are beautiful. Let me put them to a vase.”

Harry smiled, waved with his wand again, and there was a small simple vase standing on the table next to me. I swallowed hard, and I have managed to keep my face composed.

“Thank you. That is certainly convenient. Let me get some water for it.”

Harry shook his head.

“I don’t think you should bother. Unfortunately, permanent conjuration is way more complicated, and these flowers will cease to exist in two hours or so. That’s another reason why conjuring flowers is not that useful as you could believe … no girl is happy when her flowers evaporate just after her pudding.”

It was strange, I was completely shocked from the unexplainable bouquet in my hand, or now in that vase, and they were looking at them like at something normal and unimportant. Fortunately, Anna understood my confusion and changed the subject. Not for better, I am afraid.

“Mum, there is one another thing I have to admit. Yes, Uncle Harry doesn’t work for the Home Office, but he truly is in law enforcement. There is really the Auror Office and it is part of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic. It is something like the Major Investigation Team of the Metropolitan Police, they do just large and serious crimes. Also, Albus and Hugo Weasley are working there as well.

We didn’t have the accident that day James asked me to marry him. Some relative of a criminal Uncle Harry put behind bars attacked us when we were driving.”

She was looking with fear in her eyes because she was obviously afraid I would start to be afraid of her relationship with Potters. However, I remembered better.

“Harry, those many years ago when we met and you were dealing with the werewolf case, I remember seeing a ghost of that Polly Auror dead lady, didn’t I? It wasn’t just me being drunk, was it?”

Harry shook his head.

“No, it wasn’t wine. However, you have apparently played your drunkenness well, because although we were suspicious that you are not just a regular Muggle woman we missed this one. Unfortunately, it was really Polly. Why do you talk about her?”

“Somebody was attacking Drakeshaugh and you were saying that you have some security mechanism there which protected us?”

“Did I?” Harry was apparently digging back into his memory and for him, it was just another evening from many other evenings. Which sounded rather ominous, because for me it was probably the most eventful evening of my life.

“Right, I remember. Those blue lights, right? Yeah, the special security machine was the best I could come up with at that moment. In reality, as the Head Auror, I have special charms on all our houses, which when breached make alarm in the Auror Office and a squadron of Aurors immediately Portkeys to my garden. Those blue lights show when the portkey is activated. That’s one of the methods how wizards can instantaneously move over large distances.”

“Well, I have suspected something like this. Those policemen have shown really fast so that it would be just a chance. It was obvious to me that even if you were some officer somewhere in the Home Office, you would like to have some special protection for your family. And yes, Annie, I have always considered, well at least as one of the options, that you would end up with James, and if I was thinking about a regular law enforcement chief or some kind of Home Office bureaucrat, we would probably ask for some protection. Or if Henry ended with Rose or Lily, but that was less likely, they are too different personalities. So, I kind of expected that I would ask you for some kind of alarm to your office. Except I was thinking about phone connections …”

Annie was looking at me with her mouth slightly open, evidently surprised. Harry was just chuckling.

“I cannot say I am that surprised, you were always too observant for my taste. Yes, we can certainly arrange some alarm for you. It will probably not bring a regiment of Aurors, but just a sheriff from the York office, however, you shouldn’t be left alone. And we can certainly add even some protective charms to it, so the burglar expecting a hapless Muggle would hit it.”

A lot of questions I had in my head for years finally started to make sense.

“OK, so if magic exists, you said something about some fast transportation. That means all those times we thought you have a private plane somewhere around you were what … teleporting?”

Potters looked at me with a bit confused look, but then James finally caught up.

“Oh right, Star Trek, Rose showed me some of its episodes on her telly. Yes, we can do something like teleporting but only for limited distance … no jumping between galaxies. Actually, even transport to here from Devon where my grandparents live is usually more jumps. On the other hand, we don’t need any huge machine with blinking lights. Just our wand is enough.”

I have led everybody outside on the terrace and served our launch. We had a beautiful afternoon, when we finally heard the full story of the small orphaned boy with very black and very disorderly hair and very beautiful green eyes. It was a nice story and I have felt always privileged to be at least part of it.

All was well.


End file.
